Miners work in open-cast jade mines near Hpakant in Kachin state on July 4, 2020. (Photo: AFP)
Church leaders have welcomed the halting of rare earth mining in a conflict-torn northern state in Myanmar following months-long protests.
Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw diocese termed it "a success" after strong opposition forced companies to stop rare earth mining, which activists say threatens wildlife and the environment, in N’Bar Par and Dingsing Par villages in Mansi township in Kachin state, bordering China.
“Local communities, Baptists and Catholics are very happy about the halt in mining as companies and local leaders listened to the voice of the community,” Gam told UCA News.
Local communities joined by civil society and Church leaders have been protesting since September last year against rare earth mining by Chinese companies and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been fighting for self-determination for decades.
Church leaders and village representatives in KIO-controlled N'Ba Pa and Dingsing Par met with KIO chairman General N Ban La on April 15, who told them that mining had been halted.
More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Mai Ja Yang, another KIO-controlled town near the Chinese border, while the April 15 meeting took place between General La and Church leaders and local representatives.
In an appeal on March 4, Church leaders in Banmaw diocese raised concerns over environmental degradation due to the mindless extraction of rare earth which is widely used in the production of high-tech devices like smartphones.
On March 22, hundreds of local residents reportedly destroyed tents of workers who were preparing for a mining operation in Kachin state.
Mining for rare earth increased in northern mineral-rich Kachin state, bordering China’s Yunnan province, following the toppling of Myanmar's civilian government by the military on Feb.1, 2021.
There were just a handful of rare earth mining units in Kachin state in 2016, but by March 2022 their numbers swelled to 2,700, spread over 300 separate locations, Global Witness Report, which works for a sustainable planet, said in August 2022.
Rare earth production in Kachin state has helped Myanmar become the world’s third-largest producer behind China and the US, according to United States Geological Survey data. Most of Myanmar’s production is exported to China.
Kachin state, which has a substantial Christian population, is abundant in natural resources like gold, jade, amber and rubies, which have fueled the decades-long conflict between the military and the Kachin Independence Army.
Mining is concentrated in Kachin Special Region 1, which is under the control of local warlord Akhung Ting Ying. The region is rich in biodiversity and home to rare and endangered plants and animals.
All of them are facing extinction due to pollution and deforestation caused by the rapid expansion of mining activities.
